Handcrafted chimes designed to comfort Newtown

Nanci G. Hutson

Published 9:14 pm, Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Ben's Bells, a group from Tucson, Arizona, were in Newtown Tuesday, January, 8, 2013, with the help of local volunteers, hanging over 1000 hand-crafted ceramic bells, as a way of remembering the grief of the Sandy Hook shootings. From left, are Brooke Sanders, Jeannette Mare and Jenny Carrillo, all of Tucson.
Photo: Carol Kaliff

Ben's Bells, a group from Tucson, Arizona, were in Newtown Tuesday,...

Jason Ott, is part of a group from Tucson, Arizona who, with the help of local volunteers, hung over 1000 ceramic bells around Newtown, in memory of the Sandy Hook victims, Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2012.
Photo: Carol Kaliff

A Tucson, Arizona group, Ben's Bells has come to Newtown to hang, with the help of local volunteers, over 1000 ceramic bells in as a way of remembering the grief of the Sandy Hook shootings.
Photo: Carol Kaliff

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NEWTOWN -- On the second anniversary of a shooting outside a supermarket near Tucson, Ariz., Jeannette Mare, of Tucson, helped decorate Newtown with 1,000 handcrafted ceramic wind chimes to bring comfort to this hurting community.

A mother who 10 years ago lost her 3-year-old son, Ben, to an unexpected illness, Mare started what has become her own personal kindness project, called Ben's Bells. In two local ceramic studios, people are encouraged to channel their creative energies into tangible shows of the simple premise: "Be Kind.''

In Tucson, these tiny bells are tolling in commemoration of the Jan. 8, 2011 shooting that killed six and seriously wounded a dozen others, including former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who made a visit to Newtown last week.

After the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on Dec. 14, Mare said her group was "incredibly moved'' to come to the studio and make something with their hands as they talked about their grief and the power of kindness to help them heal. She said these bells are a reminder of the need to care for one another.

After starting out as a way for Mare to cope with her own loss, the bell project has gone national.

Each chime is hand-decorated and painted into flowers, hearts, stars and other shapes with tiny bells at the bottom that are tied to tree branches or signposts with tags that read, "You have found a Ben's Bell" -- "Take it home, hang it and remember to spread kindness throughout the world. Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end. (Scott Adams)."

Mare said the point of the bells is to encourage kindness, and to show to the world that people around the globe are all connected "and there is a lot we can do to take care of each other."

To hear the tinkle of these tiny bells is to hear the sound of love coming from afar, Mare said.

After her son's death, Mare said she was "dying inside'' even as she ventured again into the outside world. Every time someone reached out to open a door, or to let her make a lane change, or a stranger offered a smile, Mare felt a piece of her damaged life being put back together.

"They are so beautifully done. It's remarkable what they're doing,'' Vouros said. "It's just so very touching, and so beautiful. So lovely for Newtown to experience these bells."